Lubricating apparatus



Aug' 9; 1938 E. w. DAvls 2,126,176

- LUBRICATING APPARATUS f Filed Jan. 22, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l mim@ jig @620e rzor Aug. 9, 193s. E. w. DAVIS 2,126,176

LUBHICAT I NG APPARATUS Filed Jan. 22. 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATING APPARATUS corporation of Virginia Application .ranafy z2. 1931, serial 1ra-121,141

Claims.

My invention relates generally to lubricating apparatus, and more particularly to improvements in high pressure lubricant compressors andmeans for collecting and conveying lubricant to the pumping cylinder of a lubricant compressor.

A further object is to provide an improved l5 power operated lubricant compressor having improved priming means.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the lubricant compressor, the high pressure cylinder and the priming means being shown in central vertical cross section;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing particularly the fluid motor and operating mechanism and taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

I Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the head of the lubricant compressor taken'on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vhorizontalsectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1;

. Fig.v 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken o`n may be secured thereto by a plurality of clamping.

45 screws I4. Al compressor body casting I6 is secured in a central .upwardly extending ange I8 of the cover I2 and is internally threaded to receive the priming cylinder 20 which is in the form of a long tube extending substantially to the bottom of the drum. The casting I6 is hollow and has a vertical bore 22 to receive a high pressure cylinder 24, the endsof which are threaded and extend beyond the casting I6, being secured in place in said casting by a nut, 26 and elbow 56 fitting 28. The cylinder 24 is provided with a plurality of inlet openings 30, one of which is opposite an opening 32 (Fig. 6) formed in the Wall of the casting I6 and which leads to a cylinder 34. A cup leather piston 36 is reciprocable in the cylinder 34, being normally urged toward the open- 5 ing 32 by a'compression coil spring 38 which seats against an apertured cap 40 threaded in the outer end of the cylinder. The piston 36 with its cylinder 34 thus forms a yielding lubricant storage reservoiradjacent the inlet to the high pressure l0 cylinder to aid in rapid priming of the latter. A pair of check valve ttings 42 and 44 'are connected in series to the outlet elbow 28, the discharge hose 46 being connected to the check valve v tting 44. 16

A plunger 48 is reciprocable in the cylinder 24 and at the lower limit of its stroke, as shown in Fig. l, extends into the vertical bore of the outlet elbow 28. 'I'he upper end of the plunger is suitably connected for actuation by a piston rod zo 5I), which, at its upper end, has a suitable piston 52 reciprocable in a cylinder 54. A cylinder head 56 closes the upper end of the cylinder and the lower end of the cylinder is closed by a casting 58. The head 56v and casting 58 are each provided 25 with annular grooves to receive the cylinder 54, suitable gaskets being provided to form an airtight seal. The head 56 is held in position by a plurality of tie bolts 6I] which are threaded in the casting 58 and the upper ends of which project 30 through ears formed integrally with the head 56. The piston rod 56 is provided with a suitable packing held in place by a packing gland 62. The casting 58 has three ribbed tension elements E4 which join the head portion 58 of the casting 35 with the basev portion 66 thereof, the base portion beingsuitably secured to the casting I6 by cap screws 68.

A valve mechanism 10 is suitably secured to the head portion of the casting 58 and is adapted, 40 during the operation of the compressor, alternately to admit compressed air to the opposite ends of cylinder 54 to cause reciprocation of the piston 52. 'I'his valve mechanism is more fully disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,022,232, granted November 26, 1935. The valve is controlled by a recprocatory stem 12, which is operated by a valve'actuator 14 slidably mounted on a rod 16 and which is connected to the piston rod by means of a pin 18. Compression springs and 50 82 serve to transmit the movement of the valve actuator 14 to the valve stem 12 so that the latter may lhave a snap action. Compressed air is supplied to the motor througha -hose 84, the

air being filtered through a strainerl 86 prior to 5f,

ilowing into an oiler 88 from which the air flows into the valve mechanism 10.

A shaft 90 is mounted for rotation in bearings 92 and 94, preferably formed integrally from the arms 64 of the casting 58, the shaft having a bevel gear 08 keyed or otherwise suitably secured thereto. The bevel gear is intermittently rotated by means of a pawl 98 pivotally mounted upon a stud |00 carried at the end of an arm |02 which forms part of a centrally pivoted lever` 04 which has a second arm |08. The lever |04 bearsupon the shaft 90 and pivots freely thereon. The arm |08 has an open end slot |08 formed therein to engagea roller ||0 which is rotatably mounted on the pin 18. Thus, upon the downward movement of the piston rod 50, the lever |04 will be swung clockwise (Fig. 3), whereupon the pawl 98 will engage the teeth of the bevel gear 86 (as shown in Fig. '1) and rotate the bevel gear through an angle of approximately 60".

'I'he bevel gear 96 meshes with a bevel pinion v||2 keyed or otherwise secured to ashaft ||4 which is mounted for rotation in a bearing 6 formed integrally with the casting i6. A helical conveyor blade H8 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to a tube |20 which is securedto the shaft ||4 by a pin |22. A pair 'of spirally shaped collector blades |24 are secured to the lower end of the tube |20 and are rotated thereby closely adjacent the bottomfof the drum |0 and thus urge the lubricant toward the opening'at` the lower end of the cylinder 20. Further to facilitate the ilow of lubricant toward the inlet end of the cylinder 20, the collector blades' |24 are provided with impeller -blades |26 which may be formed integrally with the blades |24 and are arranged to feed the lubricant downwardly into the path of the collector blades.

A follower plate |28 has a central annular guide flange |30 adapted to engage and slide freely upon the cylinder 20 and has a peripheral flange |32 cooperable with the cylindrical wall of the drum I0. The follower preferably has a raised central portion |84 to provide clearance for the collector blades 24 and impeller blades |26 when the follower is at the lower end of its stroke, so that substantially all of the lubricant contained in the drum may be drawn therefrom. By virtue of the use of the follower plate, the lubricant within the drum will flow evenly toward the inlet opening at the end of the cylinder 20 and there will be no danger of the air piercing the body of the lubricant and forming a channel which would prevent proper flow of lubricant into the cylinder 20.

In normal operation, the hose 84 will be connected to a suitable supply of compressed air and will remain connected thereto throughout a series of lubricating operations. The discharge hose 46 will ordinarily have a suitable manually operated control valve vat the extremity thereof for controlling the discharge of lubricant therefrom to the bearing or other part requiring lubrication. When said control valve is opened, the

pressure in the discharge conduit will be relieved and the air motor piston 52 commence reciprocating, due to the decrease in the resistance motor will continue operating as long vas the lubricant pressure in the discharge conduit is insufficient, when exerted upon the cross sectional area of the plunger 48, to balance the pressure of the compressed air upon the face of the piston 52.

The air Upon each reciprocatory stroke of the piston 52, the pawl 88 will engage the bevel gear 9.8 and advance the bevel gear through a predetermined angle, thus rotating the bevel pinion ||2 lector blades |24 will cause gradualvfeed of the lubricant toward the open lower end of the vcylinder |20. The helical blade ||8 will act upon the lubricant as a screw conveyor and discharge the lubricant into the chamber vformed in the casting I8, and through the port l32 into the A expansible reservoir 84.y l y Near the end of the upward stroke of the piston 52 and plunger 48, the latter will uncover the inlet ports 30 and the spring I8 behind the piston under slight pressure within the hollow casting I8, and thus be readily available for rapidly priming the high pressure cylinder 24. The slight clearance between the helical blade I|8 and the internallbore of the cylinder l20 will, however, be sufficient to prevent the building up of excessive pressure in the casting I8.

After all of the lubricant has been withdrawn from the drum, clamping screws |4 may be loosened and the cover I2, together with all the pumping mechanism,\readily removed from the drum and inserted and attached to a different drum full of lubricant. In this way, the lubricant may be emciently removed from the original containers without subjectingl it to the possibility of contamination, dust, dirt, vand foreign matter.

Although the compressor may be used with various kinds of lubricant, it is designed particularly for use with relatively viscous greases. Such greases do not flow readily, especially at low temperatures. Ihe presence of 'a large air pocket in the grease might cause the screw conveyor to become air bound were it not for the 'maybe present in the grease and to feed the grease toward the inlet end of the screw conveyor, thus assuring the presence of suflicient lubricant in the screw conveyor to cause the latter to feed the lubricant to the high pressure cylinder at a rapid rate and at a pressure high enough quickly to prime the latter. The blades |24, |28 als agitate the grease and to some extent make the grease less viscous so thaty it will more readily flow through the screw conveyor and into the high pressure cylinder. I

While the embodiment of my invention herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the specific form herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a high pressure lubricant compressor hav.-

ing a lubricant container, a cover therefor, a high positions in each of which a receiving means is in alignment with a spindle, said unit comprising a. disc the periphery oi' which is provided with notches corresponding in number to and radiallyA aligned with said spindles, a. stationary latch to coact with said notches. said latch being vertically elongated to maintain engagement with said notches during reciprocation of'the unit,

j means to rotate said spindles and means to reciprocate said unit.

MAX GEORGE FIEDLER. 

